Sweetheart Of The Rodeo

Today I learned The Byrds have a country album. I'm not really a fan of country, but I promised myself I would give any country album on this a chance. There were some nice parts in some of the songs. There's some really nice piano and fiddle that I enjoyed. I prefer The Byrds more 60's rock sound. I wouldn't judge anyone who enjoys this album, but it's just not for me.

Hmmm christian vibing honkey tonk of the 60s. Easy going and corny. I hate it. Lazy day- solid 50s style rock song. Just too little too late.

I liked the first song "You Ain't Goin Nowhere," but it all kind of fell apart after that. Their take on country is awkward, it's hard to know whether they're being serious. The fact that Gram Parsons talked them into a country album, then had left the band by the time it was finished, is telling. It wasn't horrible, but given that the only song I really liked was a cover of a Bob Dylan song, I can't rate this highly.

Honestly - I think I just don't like country music

There is exactly one good song on this album, the last one, and the rest is in fuck country territory

Didn't like the album that much, but still thought it was interesting to listen to. The song I liked the most was Hickory Wind

Yeah, sure. Okay. But country music is universal like my stubbed toe. So why should I dwell on it?

twangerang

They went full country here! I bet Wilco like it.

The jingle got well and truly jangled here. Have heard a couple of the tracks before on their best of where they slotted in nicely. A few steps on the trajectory got missed to reach this point and it doesn't work.

Country music.

So bad

Front half is very twangy bluegrass with lots of gospel lyrics. Settles into a country folk-rock back half that I enjoyed more, but I was so annoyed by the first half I basically just ran out the clock wanting this to end.

This sounds like the start of a lot of country western pop that I can't stand. Well played, just not interesting to me.

Uneventful pastoral country folk that will make you pray for it to stop.

Nä, ett riktigt bottennapp tyvärr. Countryrocken är svår. När allt stämmer låter det bra, annars blir det så här. Låter religiöst och (förlåt) "bonnigt". Speciellt äckligt kristet blir det i 'I Am a Pilgrim' och 'The Christian Life'. Eller hur kul låter den här killen, från 'The Christian Life': "My buddies shun me, since I turned to Jesus They say I'm missin' a whole world of fun I live without them and walk in the light I like the Christian life" Toppenkul! Albumet räddas (nåväl) av några starkare spår. Båda låtarna skrivna av Dylan (tack papi) - 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere' och 'Nothing Was Delivered' - håller högre klass. Även Gram Parsons 'One Hundred Years From Now' lyfter litegrann. Bästa låt: Nothing Was Delivered.

A good old fashioned snooze of a country music record. Boring and dull with only flashes of fun ideas.

Hilarious story. I'm glad it exists. But it's not very good is it

Country crap

This felt somehow dated and old fashioned in the sound

Parece que todo el LP es una sola canción, suena igual....

Not bad but not my normal listen.

Why is this on here??? Why??? The byrds really don’t need this many albums especially that this one is just some dumb jaunty folk shit for half an hour.

The Byrds shit on my car

Well recorded but not for me thank you

Not a fan of this at all, skipped through a few songs. Just not what I'm into musically.

dios. 5.5/10

Not for me

kinda boring

I get that they're trying to show that a bunch of hippie rockers like them can make a country music. They definitely can, but that doesn't mean that their generic and character-less set of country covers are enjoyable.

Not really my vibe

Dit is me te country, ook al zijn het The Byrds.

Ugh wat onzetten saai en jengelend. Die steel guitar is niet te harden.

Not as good as other Byrds albums I’ve heard

09/29/2022 Honestly not the best. Title track is the highlight and it’s the first on the album, so after that you’re kinda just left hanging with mediocre cowboy songs — Fighting to get through the days. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my favorite bc at least I get to go home early

A bad pastiche of some very old music - sounds like someone trying to recreate Johnny Cash or Eagles having only heard them once. Not what I expected from The Byrds, and not as good. Decent enough I guess, but nothing memorable in the whole album.

As an album on its own, it's not all that bad but I can't say I enjoyed it all that much. I do think there are a couple tracks like 'You Got A Reputation' and 'Pretty Polly' that sit in the middle of where the band was and where they were aiming to go, which I found a lot more interesting than the majority of the album. I get the impression that the album is less on the list for how individually great it is and more for the fact that it was a complete revamp of a widely popular band's sound/genre. There are other examples of bands doing this (Ministry's early albums, Garth Brooks' grunge album under the name Chris Gaines, Eddie Vedders ukulele album to a lesser extent). I can't recall a band that has navigated this transition well and certainly not in the span of a single album. If there was a group that did that, I could see why that transitional album would be here.

While a few tracks were really very good, I found the album largely uninteresting. I’ve had friends who really loved and admired the Byrds, but I haven’t been able to connect with their music very well.

yag

Definitely not the worst country music I've ever heard, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to it. I think the singer's voice was soothing. My favourite song was probably Pretty Polly, but nothing particularly stood out to me.

Not my cup of moonshine

i mean it’s ight first song was fye but that’s bout it

a little too folkie

I've heard some of these tracks and others by The Byrds before. I can hear from this the influence they'd have on acts that followed, especially as the members fanned out into the rock and pop world of the 70s. It's fine to listen to; doesn't really compel me to re-listen though, on a personal preference level.

No more Byrds. Please. 4/10

Too much country for me in two days.

Very country

Has a feeling of the Band. Just not nearly as good as the Band.

not my style

Spent the whole album in a state of confusion... The Byrds did a country album?

Not really a fan of country rock. This was okay but nothing really jumped out at me. Pleasant.

2,5; nothing special few good tracks nice to play for a background I guess

p155, 1968. 2 stars. Yeehaw. Former folk/psychedelic/pop idols go country in desperate attempt to reinvent themselves. Well done of its kind and in hindsight one of the key bridges between pop and country - you can see a direct line from this to The Eagles and The Dixie Chicks - but not my thing at all. Unlikely to play this again.

Not for me.

It’s a country music album

I'm just not a fan of the twangly guitars, twinkly pianos, and the sounds that feels like it could come out of a western. This album just is way too much country for me, and I'm not a fan. I did like the one song, 100 Years From Now

Monochromatic shit kicking

They are obviously talented so a shame they are wasting their time in this genre

Ei nyt lähe tää rodeorock

cöntry

Ho hum

I gave this a go but country is really not my thing.

Ps no está malo pero no es lo mío

A pretty good country album, though I'm not a huge fan of the genre.

Ehhhh it's some twangy folk-rock. Some of the songs topics are quite fun but the instrumentals and overall tone of the record really get old by the end. Not my favorite type of music to begin with anyways, but probably will not be returning to this one. 3/10

2.3 - decent listen but not my favorite genre or Byrds album. The cover of “You Ain’t Goin Nowhere” sort of encapsulates my feelings toward this album - a foundation that typically resonates pretty strongly with me, just executed in a way that makes me feel a bit “meh”.

quite boring

Sorry this does nothing for me. Two stars only because of its supposed groundbreaking influence but this just sounds like generic country music to me

Not my thing

Didn’t have any listening notes, wasn’t that terrible but I’m not a fan of the biblical folk stuff so it didn’t really hit me like that

The best Byrds album we’ve heard thus far, but still a 2

Didn’t finish this but if i had to guess I’m not missing anything after track 6

Thought it was Bob Dylan at first. Country folk rock, honkey-tonk style. Not my bag. 2/5

Too country for me

Old people country western music. Not the worst, just not my preference.

Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds (1968) Just because an album is influential doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good. It can be (and has been) argued that without the pioneering country ‘rock’ of Sweetheart of the Rodeo, there never would have been The Eagles or America or The Doobie Brothers or etc., etc. Well, maybe. But this little piece of cultural appropriation just doesn’t stand on its own. There is no original songwriting on this record, although the opening and closing tracks, as country-styled covers of Bob Dylan songs, reproduce a formula that had made the Byrds successful in earlier years—making Dylan somewhat more accessible to the pop world. This works for “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” (the best track on the album by far), but the Byrds just can’t pull this off when covering Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard, The Louvin Brothers, or even traditional songs. Roger McGuinn’s lead vocals (on six of these eleven tracks) are not that good. He lacks the soul (yes, soul) of classic country, and his faux Alabama accent on “The Christian Life” is teeth-grindingly annoying. And the lead vocals of Gram Parsons (on three tracks) are only marginally better. But the standard country vocal harmonies are above average, albeit with sync problems (did they miss David Crosby?). Arrangements that include pedal steel, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle are artful and appealing, and mostly performed by competent session musicians. This feature alone is what makes the album listenable. The Byrds’ performance of “The Christian Life” by The Louvin Brothers is completely unconvincing. And “The Prison Life” sounds even more insincere (Frilly country shuffle and suicidal thoughts don’t make a good combination.) “One Hundred Years from Now” is the only track that really shows a country-rock fusion. The rest are inexperienced attempts to reproduce a country sound. I’d much rather hear Dolly Parton or Merle Haggard or Buck Owens or Johnny Cash—each for different reasons. The Byrds, however, as country artists, simply sound amateurish. It’s sad to note that a great group like The Byrds (in their brief Gram Parsons period), performing these great songs, put forward such a disappointing musical effort. 2/5

wasn't the worst ever, still country though 1.8

God I can't stand country

This is at least reminiscent of classic country, so not nearly as grating as modern country can be. However, this thing is just way too homogenous - tracks blend into one another after a while if the slide guitar tone and arrangements remains relatively static.

I didn't love the first record by them and this is more country than that one. Nope.

Listening to this album was hard for me. I was wondering throughout why I didn't like it so much. The album left me with some insights, but I didn't change my mind. Ironically, songs 12-14 that weren't on the original album were my favorite bit. Slow, rocking chair twangy ballads aren't my jam, I guess.

There are a couple Byrds songs that I know. None are on this album. I did not find it enjoyable. A very western feel to it and that does not help the album.

I guess the guitar parts are really good?

I found this album a bit boring, but I liked a couple of songs. 2/5 stars.

Jangly west coast pop group change into a solid country rock group. Best Tracks: You Ain't Going Nowhere; Hickory Wind; Nothing Was Delivered

eh

Meh

Sounds like stripped down country with a small infusion of Beatles. Not my favorite. Lacks many of the sonic qualities I appreciate in more contemporary country.

It is alright, I think they have better songs on better albums from what I've listened to.

Slow country music, meh, like country but wasn’t feeling this but not really the album for a 7.30am treadmill run

Not a folk/country fan

Same as 5th dimension, probably even slightly worse.

to much cristian country, nice vibe sometimes in some songs. not really my taste even tho some of the songs are very fleetwood mac alike which i like!

More like country rock... was ok but not familiar with the songs... probably because it reached only 77th on billboard charts

Ei vaan uppoa :/ liian aneemista näin tiukkaan sähinäpäivään!

En tunnustaudu olevani countryn suhteen rasisti, mutta tämä oli vähän unettavaa. Sitkeästi taistelin levyn loppuun ja siinä sivussa murskasin dataa pysyäkseni hereillä.

Country rock, not bad

Melkein teki mieli antaa kolme tähteä ihan vaan genren puolesta, mutta kuten muutkin näemmä todenneet, niin vähän laihaksi jäi anti. Väittäisin, että on paljon parempiakin genrensä edustajia olemassa, miksi tämä oli listalla?

Alkuun olin leppoisissa Fleetwood Mac -tunnelmissa, mutta aika pian loppui innostus. Vähän turhan väsähtänyttä settiä minun makuun.

Way more country than I expected, and the content was all so negative!

4

Rundes Stück Country ohne Kanten, an denen man was aufhängen könnte Runde 2.3

Man, Byrds fans in '68 were probably super pissed at this album. I appreciate the courage it probably took to switch from psychedelic rock to these well-written and played country songs (with just the barest hint of rock in it). Can't say I loved it, but thanks for doing it because I probably wouldn't have fallen in love with Whiskeytown or other bands that came after, had they not done this album.

I still don't really enjoy country, but this was better

es bastante digerible si te late el country pero ya leyendo la historia y trasfondo del disco y sus integrantes te das una idea de lo que pudo ser y no fue.

Cuando leí que este disco, de cierta forma, era parte del origen del Rock Country, puso mis expectativas muy altas, sin embargo no las cumplió. En general se me hizo bastante aburrido, con poca carga hacia el lado rock y con mucho de lo muy tradicional del country que no me gusta tanto. Además, el estilo vocal es demasiado melódico y dulce y pocas veces llega a un momento como de 'yee-haw'.

Vaikka suuri Nivala-rockin ystävä olenkin, ei tämä jostain syystä oikein lähtenyt.

As previously noted, I don't like the sounds that The Byrds make. This album was slightly better than the last one from this list, but the mostly country slant was still not one I could stomach repeatedly. 2 stars.

More Hippie Music

fuck country

Countryksi yllättävän vähän alkoi vituttamaan, mutta silti joutavaa...

Come on... This sucks

I don’t care for Country and or Western

The Byrds are not a band I really ever liked much to begin with; a twangy country version is going to be a struggle. I mean I guess it's cool that this was one of the first records in what would become a new genre, but like, I hate that genre. And I'm kind of getting tired of all these albums from 1966-1969. It seems that short space of time is disproportionally represented here. Of late at least. It's pretty much what I expected, 'country rock' is not what I would call it though I can see how that genre came out of this. This is a straight up country album. Christian Life is hilarious. Unless it's serious and then it's not so funny so I hope it was tongue-in-cheek. If it was meant in jest, I would guess it went over the heads of most of the Christians anyway. But I really hate this album. Not the fault of The Byrds, I just hate this kind of music. The recording, instrumentation, vocals, etc. are all fine but goddam I can't stand it. Today is another day I have to remember that this list is 1001 albums to hear before you die, not 1001 albums you want to hear before you die. Was it an important album that deserves to be on this list? Yes I suppose so. But I hate it. A lot. 1/5

What a nasty trick to play. I don't know EXACTLY what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't this. The Byrds 'Hey Mr Tambourine Man' jangly 60s feel has gone and been replaced by this horrible wet turd. It can't be the same band surely? Ah I see there have been some "musical differences" between then and now. And the introduction of Gram Parsons explains the flat singing on the tracks he's permitted to sing on...and also the common denominator between this and his solo album. I couldn't wait for both to end. Nasty.

Not the Byrds I know and not the Byrds I prefer. Quite removed from their the early 60s psychedelia we are used to. Even though I did not like this album, I understand why it's a must listen based on the synopsis. Pretty adventurous to make such a pivot in genres. Nowadays, it's pretty common for artists to jump over to the pop-rock-country scene. But back in this era with a bunch of purest stiffs, much tougher to be accepted. Makes sense though that their original followers dropped them...I would have skipped this record in my collection if I was a big fan at the time. True country fans still need to convince me that the music is good. Even with the Byrds' valid attempt, the songs are still hokey corn. Between jazz and country, I'm just missing the appeal and praise. 1.18 stars for branching out but going the wrong route.

Surprised that this is considered the first country rock album as I would have figured those genres had crossed over much earlier. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo sounded like a lot of other run of the mill twangy country music from the time. I get why someone with country roots would enjoy something like this but it doesn't do much for me. I understand why this one makes the list but it doesn't mean I have to be a fan of it. There's certainly worse elsewhere but this one is just another skipper. 1.47 stars

Should never have sacked David Crosby. But then again would never have had CSN&Y. 1/5 2/8/26

this ain't for me chief

This kinda really blows, which I guess is what happens when you let Gram Parsons provide lead vocals for your album.

2/10 I was so confused when I put this album on and, it turned out to be a country record. They should’ve stuck to electric style music, they were good at it, For me the music on the album, mr tambourine, man sounds more interesting, feels like they stepped backwards 3 years later with this album. Didn’t mind the Christian life.

What the duck? How on earth is this album included in this list? I would rate zero. Of course I know this might be a pretty great country (or is it western? ;-) ) album, but that is not my music.

Another Byrds album, and yet more absolute tripe This has followed the same process as the Tambourine one. Each of the songs are pretty bad, but as a whole album it's awful I really hope there aren't any more of their albums on this list

Not for me. Over the top barroom country cosplay. Yucky.

I think Lynyrd Skynyrd must have pissed me off because I absolutely hated this. The worst kind of Nashville country influenced blues rock - poor harmonies, banal lyrics and practically nothing of merit to note in my time listening to this. Was expecting a little more of a psychedelia edge to it that just never came through. In the end I was praying for a little more something than what I got.

Not the best album, very country and simple doesnt showcase the talent in that group

The Byrds produced what is arguably the defining sound of the 60s. There were acts that were bigger, more experimental, more influential, or all of the above but when you imagine the sound of the hippie movement, it's almost impossible to not hear their signature jangly 12-string guitar somewhere in the mix. But by 1968, the band had lost basically every key member but that lead guitarist and were running on creative fumes. Needing help, they turned to an hungry up and comer by the name of Gram Parsons who just a year later would form The Flying Burrito Brothers and release one of the greatest country rock albums of all time. Parsons, understandably, was still working on that sound and convinced the band their future lay in country rock. He was wrong. Catastrophically, horribly wrong. This album sunk the Byrds permanently and its songs were so poorly received that the band was booed out of the Grand Ole Opry mid debut performance. The Nashville old guard thought these insincere hippie assholes were mocking country music by releasing soulless, overly produced covers of classic songs that sounded like parodies. The album has been reevaluated since then and is widely beloved within country music now as a stepping stone in the evolution of country rock. I hate to say it, but I think the original country haters had it right. These songs largely sound like bad parodies of country music to my ears right down to the overly maudlin lyrics and often weak melodic structures. These guys were just not ready to sell this hard of a pivot and needed it to cook for more than just a couple months of recording sessions. There are interesting musical arrangements here and there but the band largely cannot sell their country pivot when the only true believer was Gram Parsons and he'd be kicked out of the band soon. The only songs that work to my mind are, as you might expect from the band that made Mr. Tambourine Man a hit, Bob Dylan covers and even Parsons couple of original songs don't hold a candle to what he'd do in The Flying Burrito Brothers.

eu odeio country

This was such a departure. I get that it is considered the first country rock album but the timing of Gram Parsons in the band and the release of this album indicates that he wasn’t as much of the driver of this shift as people give him credit for. It is just a poor imitation of country for me, and barely listenable at times. And to think all of the terrible modern country comes from this explains a lot.

I can’t deal with this contrived Americana country folk music

It sounded a bit more country than rock to me, but there were some charming songs. Just not for me.

Um… The Byrds have 5 albums on the list. Really? Is that really necessary? Interesting, I just listened to the Flying Burrito Bros. That album has some history for me personally. This… is just another album from 68. Oh. I like alt-country. I like folk. But… this is… not good. It’s making me figure out why. It’s like smooth peanut butter. The jangling instruments, the lack of percussive interest. The treble harmonizations. It adds up to… white bread and Jiff stuck in my throat. 2… You Got a Reputation is ok, but man, I am feeling like going to 1. This album is pissing me off. How long is it? Yeah it gets a 1. The contractual disputes destroyed what might have been ok. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Boolean: False. Don’t need 5 albums from the Byrds. They need to fly away to the past and stay there.

Unholy shit, that was rough...

Oh hell no.

I didn’t enjoy this, but struggle to put my finger on why. A lot of the time it felt too old fashioned country for me.

I was not expecting The Byrds to sound like this. It started with a Dylan song and it was all downhill from there. I sort of wish we'd got psychedelic-Byrds rather than country-Byrds. I have very little to say about this other than I did not enjoy it. 1/5

Struggled to get to the end of this one

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I have no capacity for this shit.

Liker ikke sjangeren

Just lame. Love the instrumentation but subject matter is so weak

Awful, preachy, twangy, tedious complaining and praying. There is nothing here for me.

I don't know what that was?! It was either terrible country or someone trying to be country that never heard country music before.

Some of these are like oh hey I actually might like this sort of stuff. And then sometimes it is... not that. On the whole, absolutely not my jam.

Fuck the Byrds.

no tengo el alma para escuchar esto. Country rock más bien country pebble. Suena todo igual y es soporífero. solo podía ser top en los estados unidos del 68. terrible

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 1.1 (C-) I still cant believe that the best parts of the album were the cut content released 30 years later. I resent having to wade through so much country dreck. I guess I like Bluegrass and Folk Songs decently enough, but I feel like I am rating them higher by sheer contrast then I otherwise objectively would. Somehow, numerically, Bruce Springsteen's album is lower than this, and this whole album is bolstered by my relief of the C side. Track Thoughts: You Ain't Goin' Nowhere C+ I dont know why I have a visceral negative reaction to the exact tone of guitar here. I should like the vocal harmonies, I should like the laid back meandering tone... but its something about the plodding bass that starts to make my eyes roll back in my head. There is something Dylan-esque to the lyrical delivery. I Am a Pilgrim B+ See now, you know what, lean into bluegrass, some folk-country... and I am all the more willing to enjoy it? Early exposure to, of all things, some fiddler's cassette when I was young, and then falling ever further down the rabbit hole due to celtic punk proclivities, along with reinforcement from the Coen Brothers preoccupation with the genre. I sleep on gospel songs but dress it up old-timey like, set out in Appalachia, and I'm actually down for it. The Christian Life F- Aaaand we're back to the whine, its a guitar that whines that drives me mad. Also wooooof the singing tone! Its the fact that every note they sing needs to be slid up or down to. I can only HOPE this is sarcastically mocking the POV character, but I am fearful it is earnest. F- You Don't Miss Your Water D- Its the dang country waltz that is doing me in. We are hitting the slide guitar again. And yet I REALLY wish the Vocal Harmony was being used for a better song because it is such a strange delivery and voicing, that like, I can see a better cover of this. And they bring in... are they actually bringing in a horn at like the 2 minute mark, or was that a strangely captured guitar tone? Eitherway, I think this has the bones of solid Midwestern Emo Shoegaze song. As is, its insufferable. You're Still on My Mind D- We keep hitting the plodding walking bass bounce and twang, but I keep being caught off guard by the eclectic vocal delivery! And then yeah we almost hit a honkytonk piano, which CAN be deftly deployed (see Jack White's solo career) to great effect. Pretty Boy Floyd B+ See now this DOES have a plodding walking bass, but its up beat, and the banjo and mandolin and fiddle drive this sombitch along something fierce. Plus a good ol outlaw folk story, lets go! My only complaint is that it is over too soon! Hickory Wind D- I wish this song stayed in South Carolina. I have a vendetta against glissando. Steel Slide Guitar is a sin in most implementations. 88 Fingers Edward can get a pass. Like I just have nothing to latch on to here. The lyrics come too few an far between, I want a sentence a bar, not a syllable or two at most. My brain cant hold that much information at once, so by the time the thought is completed I have forgotten what started it! One Hundred Years from Now D+ I am loving the vocal harmonies! The bass is doing something more than just walking back and forth! The backing guitar is doing some strange trills, and we have a piano doing something almost reminiscent of the Beatles if I squint my ears! AND THEN THE GODDAMN STEEL SLIDE GUITAR IS CHIRPING IN MY RIGHT EAR! I feel like if I muted a single track of this song, I could bring it up a whole letter grade! Its almost a rock song! Blue Canadian Rockies D You get my country's name out of your mouth. Stop warbling about my Province. (well technically Lake Louise is in Alberta, so neighbor province.) Its that goddamn hounddog wail, like a ship constantly bobbing up over the crest of a wave... I cant stand it. Life in Prison D I had high hopes before the steel guitar game in that we'd have another bluegrass banger. Lock up this whole album and throw away the key. To say one nice thing: There is a melodic interplay between the piano and the steel guitar during the solo (well, duet) portion that would be very interesting on any other instrument choice. Nothing Was Delivered F- WHERE WAS ANY OF THE ROCK that came in at like 50 seconds into this song (I guess the first half of the Chorus) on the rest of the album? And right back to country schlock. I am like, mad at being shown what could have been, at the tail end here. Do I applaud a brief moment of respite as a shining beacon to be celebrated, or chastise what has been demonstrated as technically possible yet willfully not pursuing it? You Got A Reputation A Oh fuck off the best song on the album wasn't originally on the album? This is a bonus from the re-release? I was ready to just Stop Listening at this point but like, this is legitimately excellent! (and also giving me CCR/Beatles vibes) FUCK I am going to have listen to the last two songs because what if there is gold?! Lazy Days B Fuck me and an early Beach Boys riff? Like actually upset that this is on the cutting room floor of the album. This should replace the opener about doing nothing, it covers basically the same material. (though I dont like the lyrics imagery as much here). Pretty Poly A+ And we go hard into heavier blue grass! Oh man this is like straight up my kind of folk song too! Its got that minor key drone! Again, like absolute shining bright spot of the album! Haunting yet Bright! I am so in love with this! WARGH WHY IS IT ONLY CUT MATERIAL!

Holy crap is this bad. Why did they feel the need to make a country album? Their other stuff is so good, but this is derivative, hokey, and cringey. 1.0/5.0: Embarrassing

If I was a racist who was planning to marry my sister I think I would love this

Hmm. I have zero investment in the Byrds' history prior to this album, so I'm not offended by all the country rock, just slightly wondering why. (Why this and not the Eagles?) Along trundles the album, strumming and crooning in my ears while I do some work. Oh, what's that, "Life in Prison" you say? "With trembling hands I killed my darling wife / Because I loved her more than life / My love for her will last a long, long time". All this over a jaunty, cheerful instrumentation. Narrator sounds a bit sad at the idea of not having received death penalty ie having to live with what he's done. Well fuck off Merle Haggard, Jelly Sanders, Gram Parsons, Byrds. It's Bad, 1/10.

Jesus Christ and the country...yay.

101. no

Not a fan, even after a second listen. I really didn’t connect with this music.

Horrible awful almost unlistenable for me urgghhhh!!!

Shiftless, shallow musicianship. Kudos for propping themselves up long enough to record that ruinous take of You Don't Miss Your Water. Don't cover Motown!! Jail.

Nicht meins

Music you can both watch paint dry and beat your wife to.

Sweetheart of the Rodeo is often hailed as a pioneering country-rock record, but for me it was a real tough listen. The blend of rock, pop and traditional country just doesn’t do anything for me. I found it surprisingly flat and one-dimensional, and listening to the extended version only amplified that feeling. There’s a strong late-’60s Nashville influence throughout, pedal steel, harmonies, and more than a hint of religious sentiment — but rather than sounding groundbreaking, it comes across as dated and uninspiring. I Favourite track: One Hundred Years from Now was passable and at least had a bit of energy. Least favourite tracks: Hickory Wind and The Christian Life did very little for me. In truth, I struggled to find many real highlights across the album. Album artwork: Lots going on and nothing very good.

Lifeless and uninspired music. Belongs in the trash. Next.

What the hell... The Byrds went country? No. Just no. Why?

It’s in my ears! Get it out!

That was trash

Awful in just about every way, IMO. Without quite having the chronology down, this album either sounds like the generic country I don't like or Graham Parsons invents the country I don't like on this album.

reallllllly pushing it with this one

Ooooo

Yeah, no. No thank you. I will never understand peoples strange obsession with Gram Parsons. I guess he did pave the way for the "butt rock in a 10 gallon hat" people pass off as country music today, gee thanks. I honestly wish I had never listened to this and that there was a score lower than 1 star, but here we are.

not for me

It’s a stock standard country album where they wrote none of the songs, this song imo is not revolutionary in any way, if I want to listen to a bob Dylan written song, I’ll just listen to bob dylan

Generic country. Not terrible, not great. Another one on here that is apparently influential but it's lost on me.

Sounds like a perfectly nice country album accidentally made by a band that didn’t really want to be there. Historically important, emotionally beige.

Eh, I liked some of the instrumentals but this was pretty boring for me. Was every band in the 60s/70s required by law to rip off Bob Dylan???

Saw the band and the album cover and started laughing. I even told a friend that also does this challenge that I was going to hate this in the morning. Lo and behold, I hated it. Folk/Country crap, and when I hit the song “The Christian Life”, I was like that’s enough for me.

An album of covers played in country rock style. No thanks.

Another Byrds album that bores me to death. There were two or three songs here I tolerated that had a cool mellow Americana vibe but not enough for me to tolerate a country (a genre I mostly do not really like) album from a band I already do not like. Man do I just not really like the Byrds.

Too country for me

Must've been a banger at Christ camp '68

Strange; as I claim many albums are

This one was a real struggle for me. Favourite tracks: none. Won't be revisiting. 1/5

I was not expecting the heavy Country vibe! Thanks, but No!

I specifically said I didn't want country and this is the first offering?

Got garbage

To quote themselves: "others find pleasure in things i despise..."

🐐

Look, I get it. The 60's was a fun time and rock was in kind of a weird transitional place but JFC this is... annoying as shit.

I didn’t have any expectations going into this album and yet somehow I was let down. I really liked the cover, but that’s where the positives end. The lyrics did nothing for me, the vocals were underwhelming, and worst of all I hated the instrumentals. Honestly a miserable experience from start to finish.

Ебаное кантри

Too country for me. I could also appreciate the album for the music maybe, if it wasn't for those run of the mill stupid lyrics. Not my cup of tea.

Not my style. At all. ★

Fav: One Hundred Years From Now Least Fav: Life In Prison I don’t mind The Byrds, but finding out that this was a country album ruined it for me. It sucks, it’s boring and I’m grateful it’s only sround 30 mins

Dude this list keeps surprising me with terrible music

Chato demais!

This album is like Life in Prison. If I could die, my pain might go away.

There’s nothing I enjoy about this rockabilly style, and I grow more callous to it with each album offered on the list. My apologies to the Sweetheart, your rodeo fuckin blows.

reminds me of a worse John Denver. So many waltzes. Boring. Twangy. Grating and irritating by "Blue Canadian Rockies"

I have absolutely no idea why this is in the list. The most mediocre country ever. Nothing memorable.

Really didn't like this.

More boring ass slow poke Americana. Every song sounds the same. My kingdom for something with some grit, some balls.

Hier kwam ik gewoon echt niet doorheen. Country is niet mijn ding.

I've heard some music by The Byrds before. I thought it was nice. I feel cheated.

Country music excursion for The Byrds. An excursion l won't be taking again

Made a bad day feel worse

Urgh, can't bring myself to even complete the first track

This Byrd is NOT the word.

Écoute pénible. Album beaucoup trop long (il ne fait qu’à peine plus de 30 minutes, mais quand même). Tounes pas très inspirantes. Mais, les musiciens sont bons. Chaque ostie de toune commence avec de l’ostie de slide guitar ! Pourquoi ? POURQUOI ?? Et pourquoi un virage vers le country rock ? Selon wikipédia, ils étaient plutôt dans le rock psychédélique juste avant. Juste non.

The two first songs are good. Then it's like "country described by people who hate country"

Rock/hillbilly nonsense

This is to country what fart jokes are to humour.

Big old meh.

Take care of your health and don't listen to this!

Pretty much garbage country music til the last few songs, then it kinda evens out with some less garbage but more traditional The Byrds sounding tracks. Was going to give this a 2, but the country music was so bad...

No to this style of country, plain and simple.

You get those X-Factor artists or boy band members with no real musical ability of their own, except for the fact they can sing a bit - for years they are propped up by a record label, and a team of songwriters and producers. Now, I'm not knocking that, per se. Someone gets famous, someone else gets rich, we know the score. Well, you know when that relationship eventually comes to an end, and suddenly this artist is left high and dry without any original songs being written for them any more and they have to record an album of swing or Christmas songs because it is cheap and easy... then they have to do loads of TV interviews to promote the album and LIE THROUGH THEIR TEETH pretending they "always wanted" to record an album of jazz standards etc. Embarrassing. Well, Sweetheart Of The Rodeo comes across exactly like that. EXCEPT Roger McGuinn was capable of writing songs like Eight Miles High and You Showed Me, and apparently he really DID always want to record an album of "traditional American music". Madness. While there was always a whiff of country to the Byrds sound, and while I cannot deny Clarence White's guitar playing is mesmerising on some of the live recordings from the time he became a full-time member of the band, Sweetheart Of The Rodeo represents a cliff-face drop off in creativity and quality from the amazing albums that directly preceded it. Big fan of The Byrds, but their music is not on this album.

I know the intention here was to try and make twangy honky-tonk seem hip to the 60s kids, but if I wanted to listen to The Louvin Brothers, I'd just listen to The Louvin Brothers. This all sounds pretty hokey to me, practically to the point of parody. There is, all the same, some pretty stellar musicianship here, but I definitely think these fellas ought to have stuck with the psychedelic sounds they were known for. There are a couple standout tracks for me: Hickory Wind and Lazy Day. Both feature and were written by Gram Parsons, whose compositions and delivery feel more authentic, like he wasn't "trying on" the sound. All in all, I think this release holds up to the record company tagline to promote this when it came out: "This Country's for the Byrds." Uhhhh, yup.

switched off after "The Christian life". Jesus!

Didn’t know The Byrds did country. They shouldn’t have

Thank god this wasn't the first time I heard the Byrds, otherwise I woulda thought that they sucked hard

In a nutshell: Gram Parsons hijacks The Byrds. I get why this is in the book- it's the progenitor of country rock. But it's boring. It didn't captivate me like Wilco, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton did. Overall: 2/10

Not for me

Nope, 👎 too country and too much god

Why, why? For me, country is a genre that has no place in my musical universe and immediately disappears into a black hole (the trash can). "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" has all the ingredients it needs: the title, the guitars, the fiddle, the banjo, and the vocals. Nothing screams country more, and I hate it.

Whey to much Jesus

Country bumpkin nonsense

I somehow thought The Byrds were a bit like... The Small Faces or something. But Jesus... Country, and somewhat Christian country at that. Absolutely not.

The Byrds. I like The Byrds. Oh dear - what the heck is this?!? No issue with the genre shift - just that it is so pedestrian and has absolutely no place on this list.

I really did not enjoy this album

Makes me want to puke into a hay bale

I just can’t.

I'm tired of this Grandpa Admittedly, I'm not a fan of American rock/Folk. Nothing stands out to me. This all just sounds like music I'd hear standing in a roller coaster line at Knotts berry farm. Listening to this made my day actively worse.

Ay caramba, da losi erneut das top Radiohead album, schriibe mis review, Schicke ab, und denn chund wider de huere lassoschwingendi, Jesus verehrendi cowboy-brunz. Macht mi hässiger je meh so Albe bide 1001 sind. Fuck that, Abbroche und d ohre eimal gründlich usgwäsche. Ein Chautabak-gfüllte speuz in Spucknapf für das zügs

I feel like a big part of the Byrds success was repackaging Dylan for people who wanted music to be more boring. Starting this album with an uninspired Dylan cover did little to allay these concerns. Now I realize their thing wasn't so much repackaging Dylan as it was watering down distinctive music until it had no edge to it at all. Astonishingly empty album, now that I'm deeper in. What if we had the softest most boring band try to half-ass country for an album?

That’s gonna be a no from me, dawg.

It sounds like a parody of country music.

Not for me at all. I don't like country even when mixed with other genres. I've softened to some types of country music, which is usually a bit more hard rock than it is country, but this particular kind of country is just a big no for me.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it.

I DON'T LIKE COUNTRY

Just a bunch of boring white dudes with a banjo

dnf

boring

Jeg bliver aggressive af sådan noget lort! AAAAAARRRRHHHHH!!!!!

Mine ører bløder og min mund smager lidt af opkast

Maybe it's just the particular historical moment we live in or maybe it's just a culture clash thing or maybe it's just being sick of hoary cliches, but ugh, a tired-sounding country-rock album where they sing about loving the Christian life? No thanks.

Not for me

A horrendous waste of time, can't believe it's anywhere near the top 1000 albums of all time, letalone top 10,000.

Didn't think much of this. I think I was expecting something different from the Byrds not this.

Just a bunch of boring white dudes with a banjo

I know this is a legendary group. I could not finish. From the opening twangy guitar, to the nasal off-key wannabe Dylan singing to the honkey-tonk country rock style…I just couldn’t stand it. The banjo, fiddle, mandolin (?) and piano sound good. I’d give it 1.5 if I could.

Just didn't care about this at all. The songs on here I recognised I know from covers I enjoyed a lot more.

Marked a move from their previous Psychedelic Rock albums to Country Rock, but more Country than Rock. I'm not a fan.

Nope, not a fan of cowboy country. I was anticipating a different 1960s band called the Birds

Ah, Gram Parsons, my old nemesis. He's the anti-Eno for me; everything he touches turns to dogshit.

Terrible nonsense

Do we really need this many Byrds albums? I think not. Completely epitomizes all the worst problems of this list: Too enamored with the past and with records that should have been filtered by the passage of time. There are Byrds albums whose influence can still be heard to this day, this is definitely not one of them.

No country for this old man.

This album was awful

Bruh, this definitely ain't it

Garbage. I could barely make it through three songs

Country parece-me quase sempre a música pimba portuguesa mas adaptada aos EUA. Não é tão má, mas...

Country? Christian? No thanks.

Not my kind of country music. They should have stuck with the sound of their previous albums instead.

Probably could have been a 2 but the election results made me especially intolerant of music like this today. Very boring.

That’s gonna be a no from me, dawg. 1/5

Couldn’t even make it through the whole thing, just no. Awful.

Risible stuff really, from a band who should know better. Is this what happened? The psychedelics artists of 67 suddenly grew up, got a six shooter and met up with Gram Parsons to release a load of country dirges? It's just so basic and simple, with very little of any interest of all. I never thought I'd say this about The Byrds, but I wouldn't mind a little Bob cover instead to be honest.

Holy crap. I generally like country music and this was bad

christian country gross

No thank you.

"You ain't going nowhere" sounds disturbingly country. Skip to the next - and that sounds even more country. A few more skips and I'm asking - when did The Byrds become country? Oh. It turns out with this album. Yes, this is guff. No, it isn't guff. It's actively painful. That steel guitar "bwap bwap bwooow" noise causes actual pangs of revulsion. This is a hard, hard no from me.

Saccharine and uninteresting country. Almost so much so that it sounds like a parody of country music.

I've heard other country albums, no problem. Some I have even enjoyed. But something about this one is so repulsive to me, I couldn't finish it.

What a jangly boring piece of shit. Sorry ya'll but I honestly couldn't stand this one. I tried but I couldn't grab onto anything here. Fav songs: - I guess You Ain't Goin' Nowhere?

Not my thing and I don't think that I needed to hear that before I die.

Country music. Boring and irritating at the same time. I tried but could not finish.

Nope, not a fan of the country music. I did enjoy however reading the WIkipedia article on Gram Parsons. When Keith Richards says you're being too reckless with the drugs, that's saying something. It's definitely a tragic story and I'm sad for the guy, but his friends could have done a better job with his burial wishes.

I did not enjoy the last Byrds' album, so when I figured out this one was a country album it set my expectations to the floor. Man, this album is so boring and twangy, I have no patience for country music. EVERY SONG SOUNDS THE SAME I AM GOING CRAZY! I am not looking forward to their other 3 albums on this list. (did they really need 5 spaces?!?!)

Och ne, nicht schon wieder so eine Endsechzigerjahre Countryrockfolkscheibe. Wie wärs zur Abwechslung mal mit etwas Barockmusik? Hannibal Lecter und ich empfehlen da die Goldberg Variationen von J.S. Bach. Gespielt von Glenn Gould. 1981.

I'm not flying with these Byrds.

It's The Byrds Jim, but not as we know it :-(

Yuck

I usually like The Byrds, but I didn't care for this one at all.

Read the notes on the album and sounds like a bit of a messy recording. I get it's subsequence influence, but not on my like of country.

More country. Very disappointed that The Byrds weren't even a country band really and made a decision to go in this direction. That said, this apparently did piss off ultra conservative country fans so feel a bit conflicted. By definition it seems you make only make a country album by rehashing the same half a dozen riffs and tropes so nothing here was different or interesting.

Really irritating and not what I expected based on the previous album. Doesn't really get going.

As far as country goes, it was probably more accessible than usual.... Not for me though.

wtf, never thought of the Byrds as a country artist

Let me get this straight: It’s the 60s. These guys are gonna travel to a festival show, do a lot of cocaine and heroin and hang out with a bunch of underage groupies backstage, then come out on stage to sing a song like “This Christian Life,” all about how they lost all their friends because they don’t have fun anymore, and then go right back to the drugs and groupies? And not only are all these songs total nonsense, they all sound screechy and irritating? I didn’t even like these guys when all they were known for was jangly Dylan covers, but this is really too much to be believed. It’s like some terrible marketing plan: go country, still get all the drugs and groupies, no energy needs to be spent on rocking’, and you can write even fewer songs than before! Brilliant.

The Byrds had such an awesome sound. Why’d they have to pull this shit?! Not the worst album I’ve ever heard, and I actually really enjoyed “One Hundred Years From Now,” but one star for shitting all over something that used to be amazing.

Disgusting country twang. 1.4

Don’t like them on their home turf, and I don’t like them doing this kind of thing either

The Byrds again?? I figured it couldn't get much worse but it got much worse

This record is somebody's sweetheart somewhere but it ain't here.

I could have known from the title of the album "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" that I wouldn't be able to do anything with it. I listened to the first three tracks and switched on after a few seconds, so perhaps the Byrds have succeeded in playing country music immersively on this album. All the more reason for me not to enjoy it. You probably have to be Texan and have a lot to do with rodeo to listen to music like this. It annoys me, just like Bavarian folklore, German Schlager and German folky music. 1/5

I didn't realize the Byrds were a country band.

No thanks to country rock

Odd Christian tunes

And I thought the other one was dull, the one with Hey Mr Tambourine Man. The country thing just ain't it for me

The whole album, every single track, is a bit tame and twangy for me. Didn't find any tracks I liked. I'm afraid it has to be a 1 star

Pile of s**t, honestly

Mo

No thanks

Country Rock doing country rock things, things that I don't really like. That southern twang that sounds like yodeling that I just can't really stand, it puts me to sleep but then jerks me awake when they begin to yell (??) again. Please make it stop. Best: Pretty Boy Floyd Worst: The Christian Life Note: Spotify had an extended album version, I only listened to the original 11 tracks.